Valuetainment - 2 Restaurants Owners From California & Michigan Reveal Impact of Shutdowns

00:00:00.000 So I have two guests here with me that their videos have been going viral the last week.

00:00:04.160 Both of them are restaurant owners.

00:00:05.480 One of them is based out of Sherman Oaks, California, Angela Marston.

00:00:08.320 The other one is David Morris, based out of Michigan.

00:00:12.860 And they both made a video, very different type of a messaging.

00:00:16.480 What's funny is neither one of them have met each other till today's video that we're talking

00:00:20.440 offline before us going live.

00:00:22.500 And I wanted to bring this to your attention because a lot of business owners in America

00:00:26.540 are doing their part to create jobs and help others who are not wanting to rely on the

00:00:31.660 economy to go to work, to do their part, to pay their bills, to do what they need to do.

00:00:35.800 And they're trying to do their best to follow the guidelines.

00:00:38.100 But unfortunately, politics gets in the way of these two entrepreneurs that we have here

00:00:44.180 with us.

00:00:44.780 David and Angela, thank you so much for being a guest on Valuetainment.

00:00:47.840 You're very welcome.

00:00:49.240 So neither one of you have seen each other's video, right?

00:00:52.100 You haven't fully seen each other's video on what happened there, right?

00:00:54.900 Is that a fair assessment there?

00:00:56.860 That's correct.

00:00:57.420 Yes, that's correct.

00:00:58.740 And if you don't mind, Angela, maybe take a moment and tell us what's been happening

00:01:03.040 with you and your restaurant in the last week or two.

00:01:06.000 Well, in the last week here in California, they've just been doing more and more lockdowns.

00:01:12.140 So two days before Thanksgiving, we got noticed that all outdoor dining, which we worked very

00:01:19.440 hard to do and put up, spent about $60,000 to $80,000 doing all the changes over the last

00:01:24.540 year that they wanted, was going to be shut down the night before Thanksgiving.

00:01:31.240 And basically, I had to let my staff know that they didn't have a job for the holidays

00:01:37.120 because we can't sustain this to-go.

00:01:40.000 To-go is about 10%.

00:01:41.720 We make gross about 10%.

00:01:43.640 We lose about 90% profit.

00:01:45.240 And anybody who knows anything about a brick-and-mortar business and a restaurant, the margins are

00:01:49.580 very thin and the costs are very high.

00:01:52.460 I tried to stay open the first time around for to-go for my customers and also for the

00:01:57.800 community because the community really miss you.

00:02:00.700 And in LA, we have a lot of people that are older and alone or they're living alone because

00:02:05.940 they've moved here and all their families out of state.

00:02:08.280 So connection and community is very, very vital to them.

00:02:12.200 So they did come out for to-go and it broke my heart, but I didn't have enough money to

00:02:17.880 sustain this time.

00:02:19.080 So I had to shut down completely.

00:02:21.760 Now, for people to understand running a business, how many employees do you have?

00:02:26.900 Your employees, when you shut down, are they getting any kind of a comp money from the state?

00:02:32.400 Is the state filling them out?

00:02:34.380 Tell us the details behind it.

00:02:36.780 Well, I wish this restaurant was in Indiana or Michigan because in LA, we are at a gradual

00:02:45.380 climb up to $15 an hour.

00:02:47.620 The expenses are very high here.

00:02:50.440 The rents are very high.

00:02:51.720 We are already losing businesses to the minimum wage hike.

00:02:54.680 Many of my other competitors and friends were closing because of the minimum wage hike.

00:03:00.920 So when this went down, no, unemployment's all they had, you know, they could rely on.

00:03:07.680 And then I was lucky enough to get the PPP loan, but the PPP loan only lasts for two and

00:03:12.260 a half months.

00:03:12.860 Mind you, I got $100,000.

00:03:15.560 I have 15 employees pre-pandemic.

00:03:20.440 And basically that's roughly, you know, my payroll is roughly $25,000 to $30,000 a month.

00:03:26.360 And, and so between rent and that, it lasted two and a half months.

00:03:32.080 And we weren't actually allowed to be fully open either.

00:03:34.920 So I kind of did stretch that, you know, cause I, I, once we wanted to go, I basically went

00:03:40.780 down to four, four employees from 15.

00:03:44.760 From 15 to four employees.

00:03:45.940 And these are in a small business, everybody works like a family.

00:03:49.720 And when you're 15 employees, everybody knows each other, especially restaurant, you're

00:03:52.840 talking to each other.

00:03:53.740 You don't call a boss, it's just friendship relationship that there's there.

00:03:58.020 What, what did these 11 employees of yours slash friends of yours that you're working

00:04:02.960 with, what did they, how, how were they paying a price for you having to let them go?

00:04:07.300 Oh, I have a cat, uh, just, just a little history of my, my pub.

00:04:11.600 It's been here since 1978.

00:04:13.660 It's one of the few, um, holdovers of the cheers bars.

00:04:18.640 Um, I'm the third owner, the kitchen staff, um, has been there since 1978 and they are

00:04:27.380 a brother, George, um, who works the day shift.

00:04:30.640 Miguel works at night and runs the kitchen, does the grocery shopping and the cleaning.

00:04:35.100 His wife does dishes and buses.

00:04:37.100 And now his son has come in.

00:04:39.000 Um, so my entire kitchen, um, their household, their entire household depends on me solely.

00:04:47.320 They've never had another job since 1978.

00:04:52.120 Now my front house, I had, yeah, I had my front house.

00:04:55.820 I had staff that had been with me since day one.

00:04:58.160 I've had it 10 years.

00:04:59.040 So I had a bartender that had been with me 10 years that I lost through this, you know,

00:05:03.480 because he had to go and try to find other means of work.

00:05:06.020 And, you know, I had some that I was able to keep.

00:05:09.260 Um, but yeah, I mean, they have to find other work and if they can't find other work, they

00:05:14.280 got to rely on unemployment.

00:05:16.320 Um, I can't afford to pay them to stay at home.

00:05:19.360 I don't have that kind of extra funds.

00:05:21.560 So here's a question for you.

00:05:23.240 Did it create any kind of friction between you and them?

00:05:25.580 Because a lot of times situations like this, what they do is there, they could say, well,

00:05:31.280 Angela, you don't understand the situation I'm going through.

00:05:33.140 It's my wife.

00:05:33.740 I've been there since 78 and I have a son and my, you know, we're running this thing

00:05:37.120 together.

00:05:37.660 You know, you got to, can you help us out?

00:05:39.340 And then you want to help them out.

00:05:40.420 You can't help them out.

00:05:41.640 Did it cause any friction between you and your employees?

00:05:45.220 You know, it didn't, I will say, um, in the beginning, um, you know, Miguel who runs

00:05:50.900 my kitchen, the other caveat with, with my, um, with Miguel and his wife who run my kitchen

00:05:55.740 is, is they were here on a work visa for many years and they had just applied for their

00:06:01.400 citizenship in February and had gotten it and they were waiting for the paperwork, but then

00:06:08.060 the paperwork got postponed and he was terrified to apply for unemployment, even though he's

00:06:13.860 been paying in the system forever because he's afraid until he got that actual certificate in

00:06:19.420 his hand, he was afraid to take money from the government.

00:06:22.620 So, um, for me, his brother, um, George was able to get unemployment.

00:06:30.640 Um, and I paid him out of what funds I had to keep him going.

00:06:35.220 And then luckily the PPP, what really I stayed open as an essential business and I employed

00:06:41.380 him and, um, I did to go and I was bleeding about 30,000 a month, um, loss staying open

00:06:50.200 for it to go, but I, you know, I had to keep them employed.

00:06:53.880 I mean, what are they going to do?

00:06:55.020 That's right.

00:06:55.460 What are they going to do?

00:06:56.420 You know what I mean?

00:06:57.500 Oh, no question.

00:06:58.160 You see, sometimes, uh, when, uh, you look at the media, sometimes they, they portray business

00:07:04.160 owners as being these rich, greedy people that all they care about is themselves, but

00:07:08.400 they don't see the story behind closed doors where folks have stayed with the same place

00:07:12.960 since 1978 and a family, four people have a job from the same family working for you.

00:07:18.700 I think what I'd like to do is I like the audience to see which video was that was viral.

00:07:23.400 And, uh, you know, David, maybe this will kind of give you an idea of what story she

00:07:27.020 was selling.

00:07:27.600 And then I want to kind of share with everybody else, the audience that hasn't seen what mayor

00:07:31.100 Garcetti had to say about your video.

00:07:33.420 Here's the video.

00:07:38.820 So this is my place, the pineapple Hill grill and saloon.

00:07:41.780 If you go to my page, you can see all the work I did for outdoor dining for tables being

00:07:46.300 seven feet apart and I come in today because I'm organizing a protest and I came in to get

00:07:52.440 stuff for that.

00:07:55.600 And I walk into my parking lot and obviously mayor Garcetti has approved.

00:08:01.480 this has approved this being set up for, this being set up for, for a movie company.

00:08:17.120 I'm losing everything.

00:08:27.840 Everything I own is being taken away from me and they set up a movie company right next to

00:08:33.880 my outdoor patio, which is right over here.

00:08:36.780 And people wonder why I'm protesting and why I have had enough.

00:08:48.460 They have not given us money and they have shut us down.

00:08:51.420 We cannot survive.

00:08:52.500 My staff cannot survive.

00:08:54.280 Look at this.

00:08:55.080 tell me that this is dangerous, but right next to me as a slap in my face.

00:09:14.340 That's safe.

00:09:15.360 This is safe.

00:09:18.180 50 feet away.

00:09:19.320 This is dangerous.

00:09:25.140 Mayor Garcetti and Gavin Newsom is responsible for every single person that doesn't have

00:09:31.320 unemployment, that says not have a job and all the businesses that are going under.

00:09:36.540 And we need your help.

00:09:38.380 We need somebody to do something about this.

00:09:43.880 David, what's your reaction when you see that video right there with Angela?

00:09:46.500 Hey, that's bringing tears to my eyes.

00:09:49.500 That bothers me tremendously.

00:09:50.800 Okay.

00:09:51.920 That is heart wrenching.

00:09:53.160 And I'm sorry.

00:09:54.020 That bothers me.

00:09:57.420 You know what's, you know, what's intense.

00:09:58.940 I want to read this to everybody that's watching this.

00:10:00.640 Mayor Garcetti responded and he gave a statement before I read the statement.

00:10:04.580 This is what's going on with California.

00:10:06.180 California has declared the entertainment industry workers essential.

00:10:11.260 That's what was going on 50 feet away from where you were at.

00:10:13.860 And in LA County, they must follow strict guidelines.

00:10:16.080 Such as eating in staggered shifts or in an area large enough to stay six feet apart.

00:10:21.140 Restrictions.

00:10:21.700 LA County is shutting down all dining at restaurants, breweries, wineries, and bars for at least

00:10:26.540 three weeks starting Wednesday, November 25th, which was two weeks ago, amid a surge in

00:10:31.540 coronavirus cases, health official announced Sunday and Mayor Garcetti said, my heart goes

00:10:37.440 out to Miss Marston and the workers at the Pineapple Hill Saloon who have to comply with

00:10:42.940 the state and county public health restrictions that close outdoor dining.

00:10:47.560 No one likes these restrictions, but I do support them as our hospital ICU bed filled to capacity

00:10:53.920 and cases have increased by 500%.

00:10:55.700 We must stop this virus before it kills thousands of more Angelenos.

00:11:00.820 Angela, what do you have to say with what Mayor Garcetti had to say to you?

00:11:03.980 I'm out.

00:11:04.840 I'm outraged.

00:11:06.340 You know, since then, I've made some progress and we just won with a judge in the LA courts

00:11:13.140 and the judge ruled in our favor and said that it was arbitrary.

00:11:17.820 It was not backed by science.

00:11:20.440 But, you know, what I need or what I like to say to him and what I have already said is

00:11:27.520 do not sit and tell me that there are stay-at-home orders because that is not real.

00:11:35.480 There is 50% of us out here that cannot stay at home and work off Zoom and work off tech

00:11:41.660 or have rich families.

00:11:43.500 So when you say we're in this together and you say, oh, you know, you can stay at home,

00:11:48.760 you're lying.

00:11:50.200 That is not an option.

00:11:52.260 You know, you're making people choose between having a place to live and eat or not.

00:12:00.140 Like this is life and death situation.

00:12:02.360 You know, this is evictions.

00:12:03.860 This is not no food.

00:12:06.040 Forget the fact that I have children.

00:12:07.940 I have employees with children that have no money now for Christmas.

00:12:12.240 They can't, they're wondering what they're going to get there, how they're going to get

00:12:15.240 through even Christmas, let alone paying the rent.

00:12:17.580 My manager was crying.

00:12:19.220 Her unemployment is done.

00:12:21.160 It's up.

00:12:22.040 And there's no, we don't know, they have come up with nothing.

00:12:25.400 They're on vacation right now.

00:12:27.040 There's no emergency session for us to get our, you know, PPP or unemployment. 0.84

00:12:32.540 And it's ridiculous. 0.97

00:12:33.860 It's absolutely ridiculous. 0.98

00:12:36.440 Angela, are you open now? 0.97

00:12:37.660 Are you open right now or no?

00:12:39.420 No, I am.

00:12:40.460 I will say that through this, we've been blessed.

00:12:42.320 We've had a lot of donations and, um, I have been sticking with what I said in the beginning,

00:12:47.760 which is I will not stop until they let us open.

00:12:50.340 And I'm speaking on the behalf of all small businesses here now.

00:12:54.300 Um, but I'm hoping, um, Friday that I'll be able to go over some numbers now.

00:12:59.040 And with the help, I mean, I've gotten support from all over the world.

00:13:02.980 I had amazing, the most amazing like thing happen.

00:13:07.440 Um, uh, Brooks Burgers in Florida, they own, uh, three hamburger places.

00:13:13.340 They're called me and said, I want to, I want to support you from over the pond because

00:13:19.400 we don't need the government to take care of us.

00:13:22.440 We can take care of each other.

00:13:24.120 And he offered to pay a month's worth of rent.

00:13:27.040 And that's another restaurant here in a state that's open.

00:13:30.700 Powerful.

00:13:31.380 I mean, I, I was crying.

00:13:33.320 I mean, just today he called and he said, you know, I decided, you know, my rent's like

00:13:38.860 10,000.

00:13:39.560 So he said, I'm going to send you 5,000 right away.

00:13:41.540 And this, this really obviously triggered me.

00:13:45.720 And he said, I think we're going to do a, take the rest and have the customers do like

00:13:51.120 we'll do a celebration and a fundraiser and have them match it so we can get you more money.

00:13:55.820 I could not stop crying because when I had my bar every Christmas, I did bad Santa Christmas

00:14:02.340 and it would be a fundraiser.

00:14:04.260 And I would raise funds for the orphanages and for the other community.

00:14:08.820 And then now I'm in this situation and the kindness of this person, it was, it was, I

00:14:15.640 don't have words to explain the generosity, the humanity, the kindness and outpour.

00:14:21.820 And, and I'm just.

00:14:24.600 Great to see.

00:14:25.560 Great to see.

00:14:26.100 Because other restaurant owners and business owners obviously know the challenges you guys

00:14:30.660 are going through, you know, there's a community and, and, and the benefit the, the restaurant

00:14:35.480 owner in Florida has over you is the DeSantis' regulations in Florida are very different

00:14:40.940 than Newsom's regulations in the state of California.

00:14:43.240 Has this event at all influenced you to consider moving to another state?

00:14:47.620 Um, you know, honestly, um, right before this happened, I'm from Indiana, all my family's

00:14:54.320 there.

00:14:54.620 And, um, my mom said, Angela, just throw in the towel, come back home, live with us, open 1.00

00:15:01.980 a place here.

00:15:03.720 And I couldn't, I, I sat and I thought about it.

00:15:07.260 I said, mom, and you know, my mom worked in a bread factory. 0.76

00:15:10.500 She's a very determined woman, woman.

00:15:12.760 And so, uh, I, I called her, I said, mom, I've been in LA 28 years.

00:15:18.260 This is my town and people are fleeing out of it and nobody is doing anything about it.

00:15:24.640 And I said, I can't just leave.

00:15:27.200 I have to finally start telling the truth and showing people what's going on instead of

00:15:32.880 keeping it in.

00:15:33.660 You know, it's, it, I just can't, I can't, I have five bar owner friends who haven't been

00:15:39.700 able to open for nine months because they don't have food.

00:15:42.880 They don't have food in their establishment.

00:15:45.000 They, one of them has gone through their life savings and their unemployment's almost

00:15:49.300 up.

00:15:49.860 The other one is took out a personal loan.

00:15:52.740 Neither of them got PPPs.

00:15:54.440 The other one has two bars.

00:15:56.540 She'd just gotten her second one a year ago.

00:15:58.840 They're done.

00:15:59.980 I mean, we are losing, we lost 110,000 restaurants and that was before this closure.

00:16:05.980 So I can't just leave.

00:16:07.820 I can't, I got to do something.

00:16:10.220 I have to move the giant because somebody has got to stand up for this community, you

00:16:16.220 know?

00:16:16.980 Well, more power to you.

00:16:17.860 Just so you know, there's a lot of people in the state of California that would like

00:16:20.340 more folks like yourself to be vocal because sometimes people can't speak for themselves.

00:16:25.240 And it's great to see your video going viral on Twitter, getting 9.2 million views.

00:16:30.560 The challenges, I mean, on GoFundMe, you know, thank God there's a product like GoFundMe invented

00:16:35.180 by a capitalist that allows times like this for people to take advantage of it.

00:16:39.460 I believe you've been able to raise $183,000.

00:16:42.840 We're going to put the link to GoFundMe below as well, which just tells you how much support

00:16:45.820 you have.

00:16:46.600 But I wonder for the other business owners that have lost their restaurants who couldn't

00:16:51.160 get a video to go viral or somehow somewhere didn't go their way, they have to shut down

00:16:55.780 and those 15 employees are lost.

00:16:57.120 So David, when it comes down to yourself, how similar is your story?

00:17:01.560 You're not in California, you're Michigan.

00:17:03.760 How similar or different is your story from Angela's?

00:17:07.180 Well, we've got some, we've got some differences and at the heart, we've got some very good

00:17:11.700 similarities.

00:17:12.480 The difference is, you know, she's got a liquor license and in Michigan, those who would

00:17:18.480 like to open back up and do some things, as soon as they do try to do that, they geeked

00:17:21.940 their liquor license.

00:17:23.080 I'm not experiencing that.

00:17:24.540 I don't have that thread hanging over me.

00:17:26.020 But she employs more people than I do. 1.00

00:17:28.980 I bought this later in life when my kids were raised and me and my wife had just paid it

00:17:33.260 off and trying to do a little pension pad here for ourselves.

00:17:36.100 And it's her and I and my son helps out.

00:17:38.800 And then I got two cooks and a waitress. 1.00

00:17:40.980 We laid off two of them right away back in March.

00:17:44.700 Back then, you know, they had the stimulus package and they were getting the extended benefits

00:17:49.620 with the unemployment amounts.

00:17:51.500 And that seemed to sustain everybody, probably more than it should have.

00:17:54.740 I got to say that.

00:17:55.940 But people come out and they supported us.

00:17:58.140 We're more of a small, tight knit.

00:18:00.720 You know, hey, we only see 40 people.

00:18:02.200 So we're on different spectrums here a little bit.

00:18:05.600 But with the traffic flow we have in the neighborhood we have, it's worked for us for 12 years.

00:18:11.140 And to watch it slowly erode over the course of the summer.

00:18:15.500 And, you know, even at half capacity, the customers were supporting us with takeouts.

00:18:18.740 Well, you know, when the unemployment ran out, the stimulus monies ran out, we get into fall

00:18:23.600 time and we were doing okay.

00:18:25.560 And then we got into the return of the school students, maybe Halloween, a lot of contact,

00:18:31.560 surface contact things there that I've seen kind of would start exploding these numbers.

00:18:35.920 And they come right back on the same small segment of the economy and said, hey, you're,

00:18:40.800 you know, basically you're to blame.

00:18:41.980 We've got to shut you down again.

00:18:43.420 And, you know, out here we're different because we don't have the sunlight and the heat and

00:18:47.820 the warmth.

00:18:48.260 So she's got perfect scenario out there to hang outside with the sanitization measures. 1.00

00:18:53.980 We don't even have that opportunity.

00:18:55.480 And to have them shut her down, I don't understand.

00:18:58.160 But I want to show your video for the audience to see.

00:19:03.360 And as well as Angela, she hasn't seen it yet.

00:19:05.480 Because your videos is, you know, it was impromptu.

00:19:10.700 You weren't even ready for it.

00:19:11.800 It just kind of happened.

00:19:12.540 I want to share this with the audience because it's a very interesting setting on what happened

00:19:17.200 with yours.

00:19:19.120 Somebody's telling the news.

00:19:20.580 And then all of a sudden you walk up on them.

00:19:22.920 And then this is what takes place.

00:19:24.760 News Channel 3's Tavarius Haywood joins us live in Portage with the details on why the

00:19:30.000 judge said no.

00:19:32.920 Tavarius, is everything OK?

00:19:35.140 My government leaders have abandoned me.

00:19:37.880 Are you the owner?

00:19:39.540 $4 trillion of stimulus money.

00:19:43.580 And I gave it to who?

00:19:44.980 Special interest groups and campaign donors.

00:19:46.840 I'm Dave Morris.

00:19:47.600 I own the place.

00:19:48.520 So what's going on?

00:19:49.460 What's going on?

00:19:50.120 You know what's going on.

00:19:51.160 Tell me.

00:19:51.700 You tell me.

00:19:52.400 Hey, we got a government that has taken the stimulus money.

00:19:56.180 They gave it to special campaign donors.

00:19:58.980 They gave it to special interests.

00:20:01.040 They abandoned me.

00:20:02.180 And they have put me in a position where I have to fight back.

00:20:06.080 You could have given me money.

00:20:07.380 I'd gladly walk away for 60 days and let this virus settle down.

00:20:11.020 I'm not going to do it alone.

00:20:12.960 OK?

00:20:13.100 Are you going to continue to violate the state's orders and stay open?

00:20:15.860 This is a state order.

00:20:17.040 This isn't an order.

00:20:18.000 This is a conspiracy.

00:20:19.380 This is a tyranny.

00:20:20.940 What do you want to tell other restaurant owners who...

00:20:22.920 Wake up.

00:20:23.560 Stand up.

00:20:24.160 This is America.

00:20:25.000 Be free.

00:20:26.020 It's time to rise up.

00:20:27.460 Got you.

00:20:27.900 Got to rise up.

00:20:28.580 Shut it all down or don't shut any of us down.

00:20:30.800 That's the only way to get control of a virus.

00:20:33.540 Angela, what do you think when you see his reaction here in the interview?

00:20:37.260 I say amen.

00:20:38.760 Amen.

00:20:39.760 That was a little different style of passions we had there, but...

00:20:43.300 Amen.

00:20:44.040 I mean, here people were afraid.

00:20:46.320 We're afraid, you know, that we're going to get boycotted.

00:20:49.360 We're afraid that people are going to think we want to kill them because, you know, we don't believe in COVID or we don't...

00:20:55.260 You know, I commend you and I wish and I hope that whatever we're doing creates a revolt with the businesses because this is outrageous.

00:21:09.060 I mean, the courts, the judge in the court, get this, found that not only were they in violation, right, and they were overstepping their power by shutting us down, but that 3.1% of all cases of going out were from outdoor dining, and the majority of those were coming from fast food chain restaurants.

00:21:37.940 I've got an In-N-Out burger that has 50 people in line every day as I sit here shuttered, and that's what they were shutting us down on, you know?

00:21:47.940 That's what a judge ruled was, you know, overstepping their power.

00:21:53.700 You know, they've destroyed half the city based on nothing.

00:21:59.700 It's...

00:22:00.180 I love what you did.

00:22:03.800 I love it.

00:22:04.800 I wish it would be more contagious over here.

00:22:07.940 We hope to get there, okay?

00:22:10.660 It was very...

00:22:12.240 It was fortunate for me, but I didn't plan on that because I asked them not to come around that day.

00:22:18.060 They weren't relaying my messages here in Michigan.

00:22:21.040 I'm just, you know, 25, 30 minutes from the invisible border, I call it, where they can go down to Indiana and they can eat and dine.

00:22:28.560 And I've had too many customers tell me the weather's getting cold.

00:22:30.860 They're going down to the Christmas shop.

00:22:32.080 They're stopping for breakfast.

00:22:33.000 And then they're coming back into Michigan after they have dinner and do the Christmas shopping, see?

00:22:37.060 And that started to irritate me.

00:22:38.420 My local media wouldn't say that.

00:22:40.480 And I started talking to what you just said there about, I seen a bus at my local drive-thru national chain, and there were several people on it.

00:22:47.100 And they were walking them down in the aisles and no mask on them.

00:22:50.060 And they just went through the drive-thru, and I'm saying, hey, come on, man.

00:22:53.040 Who's that guy in front of me that gave them 75 cents and quarters?

00:22:56.280 The next guy behind me gets them.

00:22:57.620 They're trying to convince us that there is no surface contact.

00:23:00.900 This is a virus.

00:23:01.980 And I refuse to accept the fact that if there's...

00:23:04.540 They're trying to tell me a little microorganism is going to float around in the sky for 10 minutes.

00:23:07.900 And it's, you know, wait for the next guy to come sucking in.

00:23:11.080 Well, hey, they're trying to tell me that if you have a special permit, the virus won't get you because the virus recognizes you have a permit.

00:23:18.920 And see, that's what they're doing.

00:23:21.340 I mean...

00:23:21.920 And do they like to believe people believe that this air is stagnant?

00:23:25.440 You know, I got a small cafe there, okay, and I've got an overly large hood system. 0.73

00:23:29.460 It's kind of a hindrance on me because I get utility bills.

00:23:32.980 And when somebody opens my front door, my swing door into my kitchen goes open by four inches, and it all goes up the hood system.

00:23:38.500 And to tell me I've got a stagnant airflow where it's just sitting in there mingling, no way.

00:23:42.820 And if I brought it to their attention earlier in the week about the CDC, then I went on the newest updates is October and September, and they talk about surface contact.

00:23:53.500 How long does the COVID-19 stay on surface?

00:23:56.040 Two hours up to a couple days.

00:23:57.860 So I still say we've got a lot of people that are cross-contaminating in the grocery stores and the department stores, and they're not washing their hands before they put that mask down.

00:24:06.720 Right now, as we speak, they put stricter rules in.

00:24:11.420 They've shut down playgrounds, hair salons, nail salons, parks, zoos.

00:24:18.240 Listen, TJ Maxx is packed with Christmas shoppers, and so is the indoor mall.

00:24:24.040 The indoor mall that doesn't take a temperature, doesn't wear a glove, doesn't have a mask, is packed with people trying on different clothes.

00:24:34.220 And they're open right now as we speak.

00:24:36.720 That's right.

00:24:37.420 I made a banner, a big red banner, and it said, if divided, we fall, close the mall.

00:24:43.260 Now, it was T-H-E-M-A-L-L, but when you read it fast, it's close the mall.

00:24:51.000 So I put that on the front of my head, out on the fence, and some people get it, some don't.

00:24:57.220 But exactly what you're saying is what I'm complaining about, the inconsistent policy.

00:25:01.720 Let me kind of share with the audience what the restrictions they set in your state, in Michigan.

00:25:09.000 Governor Whitmer, your governor, administration on Sunday ordered high schools and colleges to stop in-person classes,

00:25:15.780 close restaurants to indoor dining, and stop organized sports, and a bid to curb Michigan's spiking coronavirus cases.

00:25:22.860 These restrictions started November 18th, Wednesday, in the last three weeks.

00:25:26.840 Dan continues, for restaurants and bars, dining service likely will not be allowed to resume with the current set of restrictions.

00:25:33.900 Expires on December 20th.

00:25:35.420 Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon says.

00:25:39.160 On the bottom, Justin Winslow, who's the president and CEO of the Restaurant Association, he said the following.

00:25:45.820 He says, we firmly believe there's a better approach, one followed by 45 other states that doesn't use blunt force closure of a single industry to result a shared crisis.

00:25:57.060 He pointed out that Michigan restaurant dining rooms will be closed for 118 days in 2020.

00:26:03.420 That's nearly four months.

00:26:05.180 By December 20th, the restaurant industry lost $8 billion in sales and laid off 75% of its workforce for that time.

00:26:14.480 What has changed since that day when your video went viral on Twitter?

00:26:18.360 What's changed, David?

00:26:19.100 What's happened to you?

00:26:19.820 Nothing.

00:26:20.160 They just extended it.

00:26:21.440 All they did was extend it.

00:26:22.540 Now, if there's things that change for me personally, believe me, I didn't expect that to go viral.

00:26:26.320 That was a big surprise, him being there and me surprising him.

00:26:28.960 And he kind of surprised me when I pulled in to drop off goods.

00:26:31.160 Because there's a lot of things that changed in my personal life where all of a sudden I'm able to kind of encourage people to stand up.

00:26:37.720 In the cafe, it's been tremendous change.

00:26:39.920 We've had so much support, so many people coming.

00:26:44.080 And, you know, I like to say, and we've had, the first part was kind of negative for me because on a personal basis, people like to attack you.

00:26:52.380 They think that you're the one who's COVID.

00:26:54.160 You're out to kill society. 0.98

00:26:55.360 Yeah, I've had death threats.

00:26:58.440 You know, when my grandchildren have to read that, it bothered me.

00:27:01.540 It hurt my heart a little bit.

00:27:02.960 And I asked my dog, just don't let them read it.

00:27:04.860 Because any time you're going to stand up to something that you know that you've been pushed to the point and you're true in what you're doing, not everybody's going to like that, okay?

00:27:14.620 You can't ever be 100% popular, but you've got to do it.

00:27:17.320 And we've got to teach our kids.

00:27:18.400 We're doing this for our grandkids, by the way.

00:27:20.420 I don't want people to forget this.

00:27:21.840 I'm after my liberty.

00:27:22.820 I want it back.

00:27:23.420 I want my freedoms back in this country.

00:27:25.400 I want us to have the right to choose.

00:27:26.960 And the people that abused me verbally on the social sites, it was pretty easy just to say, I don't pull you into my cafe.

00:27:33.420 I don't go out and twist your arm and yank in here, okay?

00:27:35.900 And we have continued to defy.

00:27:37.680 They took my license a couple of days ago.

00:27:39.840 Wow.

00:27:40.660 That's where I was going to go next.

00:27:42.200 That was my next question for you.

00:27:43.660 So here's a question for both of you.

00:27:44.940 How concerned are you knowing both of you are in an industry where you, Angela, on this side, you have a liquor license and you need licenses, you need permits, you need certain ratings, you need certain things to happen.

00:27:58.700 And that's led by the local politicians, local, whoever government employs that may be.

00:28:04.160 How concerned are you that if they really wanted to push you around, they could?

00:28:07.360 You know what?

00:28:09.920 Well, I'm sorry, but my response to that is I'm 59 years old, okay?

00:28:14.480 I won't say I've struggled, but I've pulled myself up by the bootstraps many times.

00:28:19.120 And I've worked too hard for somebody to push me into that corner with no say-so and drive me into bankruptcy and then think I'm going to go away quietly and forget about me.

00:28:27.340 I will do my best to raise the troops in this country.

00:28:30.500 We are due for this, and I'm not going to fear this.

00:28:33.000 I keep thinking back to when my grandfathers and forefathers fought for my freedoms, and the older I get, the more important that becomes to me for my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren.

00:28:41.960 And we can't fear this, and that's what I'm telling me.

00:28:45.000 You can't fear the consequences.

00:28:46.240 If we all come up together, and I know your problem, and I know our problem.

00:28:52.380 I've got friends that own these, like I say, restaurants with a liquor license.

00:28:56.460 It's a little more difficult.

00:28:58.280 They'll be the next step.

00:28:59.500 But somehow we've got to bust the barriers, and we can't fear that.

00:29:02.340 We just can't.

00:29:04.240 Angela, how about yourself?

00:29:05.980 Well, on my end, yeah, I have contemplating.

00:29:11.100 I know we have a bar, I've heard anyway, in Burbank called Tent Horton Flats.

00:29:15.140 They're preparing to open on Thursday.

00:29:17.500 Now, I can't.

00:29:19.300 It costs so much for an attorney and stuff to get that license back.

00:29:24.600 And I did not.

00:29:26.160 That video was completely by accident.

00:29:28.280 I didn't ask for any of this.

00:29:30.000 And for me, I am calling them out because I want them gone.

00:29:36.600 I want them held responsible, and I want it changed.

00:29:39.900 So the Restaurant Association here, you know, I think one thing everybody has told me is

00:29:45.900 my video has inspired them to start really speaking up and start fighting and staying

00:29:52.700 in the game.

00:29:53.420 And I'm not at a point where I want to risk my liquor license or my health permit yet because

00:30:00.220 we did get a big win with the courts.

00:30:02.900 So now the next step is, you know, it's like David and Goliath.

00:30:06.260 I hit the, you know, we hit the giant in the head, and he's busy.

00:30:09.380 And now it's Newsom.

00:30:11.200 Now we're coming after, you know, the rest of it.

00:30:14.080 So he falls.

00:30:14.720 Because, you know, small business owners here, I mean, it costs so much for my business.

00:30:20.500 My business cost me half a million dollars, but I worked 10 years in this business to pay

00:30:26.200 off.

00:30:26.680 So I had a retirement, you know, and that's paid off in June of this coming year.

00:30:31.880 And I don't have the funds to legally fight them.

00:30:35.740 And so, I mean, if I defy them and they take the license, you know, I may never hold a license

00:30:41.660 again because I don't have the money to fight them.

00:30:44.320 So I'm choosing this route and the restaurant association is plowing in.

00:30:48.840 They've called me.

00:30:49.560 I'm going to be meeting with them and politicians.

00:30:51.800 And, you know, I'm just trying to be as vocal and be on, just talk to everybody as much as

00:30:57.320 I can and not be political because it's not about politics.

00:31:02.120 It's about people.

00:31:03.180 And what I'm amazed and astonished about is, you know, this is a very liberal state.

00:31:08.780 And I was afraid that I would have a backlash and they would think, oh, you know, I don't

00:31:14.560 believe in masks or I want people to die.

00:31:16.720 Or for the most part, I've had so many, you know, calling me going, we've had it.

00:31:21.680 You're right.

00:31:22.440 We want them out.

00:31:23.480 Like, it's now starting to be the people, you know, saying, we want new leaders.

00:31:29.700 We want, you know, so that has been very inspiring to me.

00:31:33.200 Very inspiring.

00:31:34.240 And I try very hard not to be political because once you do, you get caught in this baseball

00:31:39.760 match and trampled all of us people in the middle.

00:31:42.820 You know what I mean?

00:31:44.220 Like, we're just trying to live our life and provide, you know, jobs and a good home.

00:31:49.620 I have a son in Indiana.

00:31:50.920 I have a grandchild on the way.

00:31:52.840 You know, I'm just trying to live the American dream.

00:31:56.320 I'm not, you know.

00:31:59.880 They're making it tough on us.

00:32:01.380 I applaud both of you.

00:32:02.740 I applaud both of you for risking starting a business and trying to create jobs and staying

00:32:09.300 in business.

00:32:09.860 And obviously, you got pushed back to a point where 118 days for you, David, of being shut

00:32:15.060 down.

00:32:15.300 There's only so much you can do until you put a man in a corner to rise up and say, 0.94

00:32:19.520 listen, I just got to stop.

00:32:20.960 And there's only so much can be done for Angela for you to go out there and spend that

00:32:24.040 60, $80,000.

00:32:26.160 All you know is next thing you know, a week later, they shut you down and across the street,

00:32:29.780 50 feet away from you.

00:32:31.120 They set up the same exact thing because the entertainment industry is now considered 0.81

00:32:34.320 hypocritical.

00:32:34.960 So I applaud both of you, Angela, we're going to put your GoFundMe below for anybody who 0.83

00:32:40.760 wants to support you.

00:32:42.140 David, I believe you have one as well.

00:32:43.460 We're going to put that below as well for folks who can go out there and contribute.

00:32:47.500 And how can people find you if there's others in the restaurant community who want to get

00:32:51.660 a hold of you?

00:32:52.100 What's the best way to get a hold of both of you?

00:32:54.620 They can reach me.

00:32:55.700 And I'm glad you said that because, you know, I have been speaking with a lot of people

00:33:00.800 and I'm trying to get other businesses on so that they can speak.

00:33:06.600 And I have a bunch already and I will take in anybody else and I will pass their names

00:33:10.820 along.

00:33:11.220 So they can go to PH Saloon on Facebook and leave me a message or they can go to Instagram.

00:33:15.940 It's Pineapple Hill Saloon and leave a direct message.

00:33:19.680 I have my bartenders are answering them.

00:33:22.500 They give me their info.

00:33:23.540 I would love it because I am planning something else as well.

00:33:27.200 I'm doing some protests and other things.

00:33:28.840 But one last thing I want to say is, you know, I'm like you.

00:33:33.920 I'm not very good with words and I say things wrong and, you know, I don't have a college

00:33:38.420 degree, you know.

00:33:40.100 No, do I.

00:33:41.200 No, do I.

00:33:42.160 And I go to people that inspire me and I have this quote in front of me every time I talk

00:33:49.180 and it's from Bob Marley of all people.

00:33:51.760 Thank you.

00:33:52.600 You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

00:33:57.740 And you reminded me of that quote when you were speaking.

00:34:01.200 Well, thank you.

00:34:02.020 That means a lot to me.

00:34:03.500 I'll remember that and I'll write that down myself.

00:34:06.100 Yeah.

00:34:06.720 David, how about if people want to get a hold of you, David?

00:34:09.580 What's the best way to get a hold of you?

00:34:11.660 I'm Dave Morris.

00:34:13.820 It's DR Daily Grind on Twitter.

00:34:18.260 We're going to put your link below as well for people to be able to message you.

00:34:22.480 Anybody that's in a restaurant or business world that you want to reach out to them,

00:34:26.880 you can go to Instagram with Angela or her website or you can go on Twitter and send Dave

00:34:30.840 a message as well.

00:34:32.040 With that being said, Angela, David, thank you so much for being a guest on Valuetainment.

00:34:35.240 We're also on Facebook too.

00:34:36.520 Thanks for what you're doing.

00:34:37.920 Can I say one more thing for five seconds?

00:34:40.820 I remember you asked her about at some point if she'd be willing to move out of that state.

00:34:44.720 And I got to tell you, if they drive me out of the state, they close me down, I will

00:34:49.120 move out of the state.

00:34:50.140 Where would you go to if you left the state?

00:34:51.860 What state would you go to?

00:34:52.440 Well, I'm looking for more sunshine.

00:34:53.780 I'm looking for more sunshine.

00:34:54.960 My wife knows I don't like you here.

00:34:56.680 And I've threatened for years.

00:34:59.340 In fact, that's a joke amongst my family.

00:35:00.920 I've been here all my life and I tell her, you can't bury me here.

00:35:03.140 You can't spread my ashes here.

00:35:04.660 There's nothing I like about Michigan, but I'm here because my family's here and I was

00:35:07.540 raised and born.

00:35:08.220 So here I am.

00:35:09.380 But I'm looking to go west a little bit.

00:35:11.580 I don't think it'll be out there in that expensive territory.

00:35:13.860 No, don't go to Florida.

00:35:17.640 It may be Southern Indiana so I can stay close to my kids and stuff.

00:35:20.960 Oh, yeah.

00:35:21.980 Nice there.

00:35:22.500 I like Indiana.

00:35:23.380 By the way, the roads are nice.

00:35:24.520 Everything's going pretty good down there.

00:35:26.040 Yeah, the economy is great.

00:35:27.560 The red state down there is doing well and they're treating the people fairly.

00:35:30.480 Yeah, they are.

00:35:31.260 If they drive me out, I got no problem selling everything and moving down there, I guess.

00:35:34.480 There you go.

00:35:34.980 Do something else.

00:35:35.680 We'll figure it out.

00:35:36.700 Awesome.

00:35:37.340 Guys, thank you.

00:35:38.240 Thank you so much for being a guest.

00:35:40.600 Thank you so much for having us.

00:35:42.140 These were not actors.

00:35:42.940 These are two business owners, one in California, one in Michigan, both being affected by the

00:35:46.940 regulations and policies that the governors and the mayors are coming out with and you're

00:35:51.260 seeing what's happening to them having to shut down.

00:35:53.280 What are your thoughts about what they have to say?

00:35:55.020 You saw both of their reactions watching each other's video.

00:35:57.240 I'm curious to know what you have to say about it.

00:35:59.400 And outside of that, if you watch this video and you're seeing how states are being affected

00:36:04.540 by, no story is going to show us more about what's going on with policies of state than Disney.

00:36:12.860 Disneyland in California shuts down and lays off 28,000 people.

00:36:18.520 Disney World in Florida keeps going, keeps everybody employed, all because of policies.

00:36:25.040 If you've not seen that video, click over here to watch that video.

00:36:27.400 And if you've not subscribed to the channel, please do so.

00:36:29.920 Thanks for watching, everybody.

00:36:30.660 Take care.

00:36:31.220 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - December 11, 2020

2 Restaurants Owners From California & Michigan Reveal Impact of Shutdowns

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